The "Back to Work" Challenge - Writing Every Day

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I listen to a lot of podcasts, I have since getting turned on to the work of Leo Laporte and the Twit.tv network around 2006. I immediately fell in love with Mad Magazine’s Dick DeBartolo and Leo taking on the latest gadgets over at the Weekly Daily Giz Wiz.

Recently, I’ve taken a managerial position and needed to deal with lots of incoming information from my life.

I was introduced to the GTD system “Getting Things Done” from the David Allen Company, and it changed the way I work, live, and spread my attention. Any explaination I give about my inbox and my workflow likely won’t help anyone. If you are struggling and feeling overwhelmed, I strongly suggest doing your own research into GTD.


My favorite podcast to give my attention to during the week is the new “Back to Work” podcast on the 5x5 network. Hosted by Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann, the podcast covers time and attention, family time, priorities, meditation, and is not afraid to be silly and at times both insightful and entertaining.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”

As people, we’re the sum of our experience. I’m ready to be taught. I’m not wrestling with the “Why” so much recently, as the “How” and the “When”. I was ready for the GTD, I’m ready to hear what Dan and Merlin have to say. I’m ready to ask my friends for help. I’m ready to wake up earlier and excercise and have a full day and be tired at the end.  I’m ready to write every day.

I’m ready to listen to my therapist, who recently Yoda’d me into the concept of “Do or do not… there is no try.” She threw a pen on the floor and said, “Try to pick that up”. There was no trying, there was only the action of reaching down to thar rug and picking the pen up. I’m here now applying this ‘globally’. (to use a publishing term!)

Finally, I’m ready to try and fail.

In the lastest episode of Back to Work, Merlin and Dan rib about bloggers, hosting, the challenges of working on projects outside of your day gig. Merlin suggests getting started with being a blogger by writing every day for a month, keeping your posts private, and posting twice a week. Dan’s experiences and philosophy about developing an iOS app in your free time is somewhat antithetical to Merlin’s encouragement. Both gentlemen are inspiring teachers, encouraging us ‘knowledge workers’ to do, and not to try to do. This is getting unstuck.

“To make something really good, you can’t do it all”. — Merlin Mann

I’m getting unstuck today, I’m giving up 100% control today, and now that I’ve written my post for today and recorded a podcast, I’m going to go for a swim.

—

Clay,
July 10, 2011

Welcome to the new Clay N Ferno . com! - "In the Business of Fun Since 2001"

Hey Guys-

I’ve moved to this great squarespace platform for my new blog. I hope you enjoy!
This month is the 6th Anniversary of me being on the Boston Phoenix as the ‘Most Popular Guy in Boston’.
I’m no longer a whiskey drinker or stoner…though most of this is all true to this day!

Article here:

Lost in MySpace - Camille Dodero, Boston Phoenix, July 22, 2006

Oh MySpace, how things have changed!
Can you save us, J.T.?

—
Clay, July 9, 2011

@DigBoston and @LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week!

COMICS

Every comic is someone’s first, and we say start ‘em early! The Skrumps are animated Muppets in the Henson-verse making their full length comic book debut in Skrumps One Shot from Archaia. Mooch adopts an unusual pet that may make his life difficult in Skrumpland! … G.I. Joe Vol.2 #3 also makes for a great first comic for any young or old men out there! Come down from your star-spangled cupcake high as Zartan and Storm Shadow invade the Pit. … We’ve all got the friend that claims she could ‘kill a grizzly bear with just a knife if she timed the attack right’. Animal Planet Worlds Most Dangerous Animals is the book for her! Survival stories of animal attacks from bears, crocs, and lions will have you rabidly frothing at the mouth for the next issue! … Comic book picks from LeaguePodcast.com.

 

Pass the Daily Dig along! Your friends can sign up here!

BOOK REVIEW! Identity Crisis [Paperback] Brad Meltzer (Author), Rags Morales (Illustrator), Joss Whedon (Introduction), Michael Bair (Colorist)

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Identity CrisisIdentity Crisis by Brad Meltzer My rating: 5 of 5 stars Brad Meltzer along with Rags Morales and Michael Bair have created a brilliant Justice League mystery for the ages. Art is a solid 5 out of 5 stars. No question. Morales has the sensibility of another DC heavyweight, Brian Bolland, and the storytelling ability of a Neal Adams or John Byrne. Clean Bolland lines on the inks, solid blacks, great expressions and characterizations. Spoiler-free story review. Meltzer ties the Justice League and Justice Society into a long form mystery involving the murder of the Elongated Man’s wife. Third act climax and twist rivals Conan Doyle or Christie. This is frequently on the top ten lists of the last decade and I would concur. Knowledge of the DC universe is not required, some basic knowledge of the League is helpful. Tim Drake is Robin under Batman at this time, and Wally West is the current Flash. Recommended if you like: Watchmen, Jack & Bobby (TV), Blackest Night, V for Vendetta, Murder She Wrote, V for Vendetta, Sin City, Animal Man, Arkham Asylum. View all my reviews

ZiD Tribute - Clay S. Fernald / Clay N. Ferno / DJ Hank Venture, March 28, 2011

Phantom Limb (ZiD) DJ set, January 2010

This podcast contains explicit content  | Download | Duration: 01:12:55

I can’t DJ. Well, I’ve been billing myself as a DJ for half a decade, but I’m terrible at mixing. Going from Kiss on ‘1’ to Hellacopters on the ‘2’ doesn’t exactly require Grandmaster Flash type skills. I don’t even own any gear and most shows I’m using some combination of iTunes, my laptop, a hard drive, an iPod and sometimes my iPhone. When I go up, it’s to bring back some musical memories for myself and my pals that *hopefully* showed up for my gig. I’ve DJ’d for hire as well, but my track list motivation is largely the same among strangers. I play Cake’s ‘Going the Distance’ or Blues Traveler’s ‘The Hook’ for purely a nostalgic look back at my college years at the ice cream store.
Adam was a dude that could DJ. He could blend. He could sample. He cared about how each note inter-played with the next. His gear and technique were top notch and above all was always prepared for a set. As DJ ZiD, he rocked a monthly industrial and goth dance night at ZuZu. The sets were accompanied by visual treats, clips from horror movies, and a well crafted 3D logo bouncing around the screen STAINLESS - DJ ZiD. Dude had his shit tight, on lock, and fully loaded. He’d be in his tall buckle boots, and sometimes a gas mask for full effect. You should have been there when we installed his video screen and realized it took up the whole front wall. 
When us goths and punks and comic book nerds in New England see that first orange leaf, we start to obsess over our Halloween costumes. Adam loved Adult Swim’s Venture Bros. I booked us for the Middle East Corner stage on Friday, October 30, 2009 for ‘A Very Venture Halloween’: DJ Phantom Limb (DJ ZiD of Stainless) vs. DJ Hank Venture (DJ Clay N. Ferno) - indie punk and hip hop. Adam loved lots more than goth and industrial music, and this set allowed him to branch out a bit into the hip hop and some indie rock. We got the costumes together and Ines took some great photos of us in the alley for the flyer. I submitted the photos to the io9 website and we were mentioned as part of their favorite Halloween cosplay of that year!
The night came and we had encouraged pals to dress up in Adult Swim costumes. To our bewildered surprise, we had henchmen of the Monarch, a Devil and Lucy (Daughter of the Devil) show up! Us nerds gotta stick together — I’m most at home in the comic shop on a Wednesday cracking jokes with strangers about Guy Gardner (Space Cop!) or isolating among swarms of introverts at New York City Comic Con. These are my people and I love them to pieces! Sure, I’ll take a free hug.
Sometime between my birthday, October 6, and the date of this event, I made some changes in my lifestyle. I was only two weeks into my recovery as an alcoholic. I only point this out because my body, mind, and spirit at this point in early recovery could best be described as BAT SHIT INSANE. I did what I thought was best for me at the time. Instead of pounding beers and shots all night, I drank just as much Red Bull. Bad Idea Jeans! I played some dope tracks on my iPod / Laptop setup. Swingin’ Utters, Lot Six, Gza, MF Doom, The Clash, Cheeseburger. I work by dancing around my hard drives, letting the synapses connect in my head, connecting the dots of my playlist based on personal memories. Singing Sloppy Seconds with old friends on a school bus apartment. Associating Nine Inch Nails with a college dorm friend that liked to listen to Downward Spiral, high on weed, in the shower. Clapping myself back to reality with Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to Fuck With on an ill-fated, infamously psychedelic, winter’s day. You know, Rock Star shit.
Adam, hurm…excuse me, Phantom Limb, took the headlining spot. He was so stoked to see the Henchmen (21+24) staring up at us. It honestly felt like we were in a cartoon. This is exactly the kind of thing that would happen on Venture Bros.
What I’m posting is a version of the set he played as Phantom Limb. You’ll notice it’s quite put together and tight. He actually rehearsed the thing, and I KNOW he wouldn’t have burned it to a CD for me if he wasn’t happy with it. You’ll hear Les Savy Fav, Busta Rhymes, Deltron 3030, MF Doom (he always told me which Doom track he was going to play in case my trail led me to Danger Doom or Madvillian - he knew it would!), Beck, KRS-ONE (Bwaaamp Bwaaaamp - Edutainment!) and so much more on this mixtape. 
One day I hope to have the focus to drop a mix like this on the world. Can you imagine being this skilled of a DJ and mixing your own video to your tracks on top of that? Dude was so crisp.
April of last year, The League of Ordinary Gentlemen were blessed with Phantom Limb DJing our first Boston Comic Con After Party.
As we approach our second annual, we’ll have that deep and heavy feeling that something important is missing, but damn well should be there. — Clay S. Fernald / Clay N. Ferno / DJ Hank Venture, March 28, 2011

2-Bit Comics - Howlin' Jack Kirby!

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Hello Leaguers! Here is a column I will now dub ‘2-Bit Comics’! I find some great comics hiding in the 25 cent to $1 bins and highly recommend you do the same! Also, here is where I may share some cheap TPB deals that I have discovered. Of course the other leaguers are free to participate as well. A light bulb popped over my head this morning as I awoke to share with you two books that I picked up yesterday.

Frank Frazetta’s Dracula Meets the Wolfman One-Shot, Cover B, August 2008, Image Comics What I paid: 50 cents. WOW! This was a great book. Art by Francesco Francavilla. Story by Steve Niles. This sepia toned book takes us back to Moldavia circa 1849. Nicolae Bulinski is professing his love for his dear Marta as she heads into the house. Nicolae then realizes he is out too late and transforms into the Wolf-Man! Wolf-Man bolts into the woods, eventually to be captured by his caring father and brother, as he chases down a horse for food. Pa and Bro net him and lock him up for the night. The family is used to his unfortunate curse, and take care of him until he transforms back to Nicolae. Marta, meanwhile, is preparing for a night dining with the Count! Though she is fearful, she accepts the invitation. The Count’s driver picks her up in a carriage and brings her to the castle. Dracula wastes no time and makes his intention clear…he wants to feast on her (“In Transylvania, dinner host eats YOU!”). Well, this is where I stop describing the plot — I want you to track down this book if you like classic Universal Monster Team-Ups! This comic reads like an old movie. It’s comfortable, beautiful, and has a classic illustration style.

Countdown Special : The New Gods - Featuting Mister Miracle, Orion, and The Forever People DC Comics, March 2008. Cover by Ryan Sook What I paid: 50 cents. First things First: This is Jack Kirby! 80 delicious pages of story and art from the King himself.

Reprinted from the pages of Forever People, Mister Miracle and New Gods, here is an introduction to some of Kirby’s most lauded Cosmic characters in the Mighty 1970s DC style. Let’s talk art. Vince Colletta inks the first two stories, and Mike Royer inks the third story. I understand Jack and a lot of fans weren’t that crazy about Vince’s work, but I thought his inks complemented the pencils well and maintain the classic Kirby look. No complaints from me. Mike Royer inks the Orion origin, the third story in the book that takes place mostly on Apokolips. Kirby dots are everywhere and the New Gods look noble and dynamic. There are weirdo contraptions, Dragon Tanks, and action on every panel. This is a great looking story. If I were to compare the two, I would say That Mike Royer’s inks lean a bit more toward the bold ink lines and swooshy brushwork of Kirby himself. Both inkers, in my opinion, are great. I believe that because Vince does not seem to have the same style as Jack, some fans cast aspersions on his art but I think that is unfair. As far as the story, we get the first appearance of some great characters — The New Gods. Being a Marvel kid, I was in the dark of this era of the King’s career up until recently. Boy, am I glad to get into this now! Every panel moves the story along, each word in the captions and word balloons are relevant. Inner dialogue is kept to a minimum and not abstract. There are complex familial relationships in the New Gods, similar to Greek mythology. Each time I open a book and it says “Written, Drawn, and Edited by Jack Kirby”, I laugh a little bit. But then after the second reading I think to myself “How could anyone ELSE edit this book? Jack’s got all this stuff floating around in his head! He’s establishing the continuity!” I really enjoy what little I have read of Jim Starlin’s versions of the characters, but this certainly is the real deal! This review is not just an endorsement for this book, but a strong recommendation for you to find old Kirby comics and read them and enjoy your art until your eyes bleed. Seriously, it is so worth the trip!

Well that does it folks! You can expect some upcoming reviews of Jack Kirby’s Black Panther, and Justice League Europe.